Say no to misleading resolutions: oppose and reject HR 304 and HR 306

Thursday

Jun 30, 2011 at 12:01 AMJun 30, 2011 at 12:45 AM

Presidents of America's national Turkish-American grassroots organizations, the Assembly of Turkish American Associations and Federation of Turkish American Associations, representing more than 500,000 Turkish Americans and 300,000 Turkic Americans, respectfully urge lawmakers to reject and oppose H.R. 304, which Congressmen Robert Dold, a Republican from Illinois, and Democrat Adam Schiff of California recently introduced, and H.R. 306 which Reps. Howard Berman and Edward Royce of California introduced. These resolutions condemn Turkey of the crime of genocide against Armenians during World War I, and the destruction of the Christian heritage of ancient and modern Turkey as a form of genocide against Christians.

H.R. 304 accuses the Ottoman Empire, and by implication, Turkey and people of Turkish heritage, of the high crime of genocide. In 1987, the United Nations applied the Genocide Convention to the Armenian case and chose not to adopt a report that argued in favor of the genocide label. Further, in response to misleading statements by the Armenian lobby in 2003 and 2007, the UN reaffirmed that it had not accepted the Armenian case as genocide. And the US, by virtue of its ratification of the UN Genocide Convention, acknowledges the sole jurisdiction to hear genocide allegations is the International Court of Justice at The Hague

To date, there have been 12 resolutions regarding the Armenian case. Six have failed, the most recent H.R. 252, because they characterized the events of 1915 as genocide. The six that succeeded did not characterize the events as a crime. Whether the Ottoman Armenian tragedy constitutes a case of genocide is a genuine historic controversy. Experts on Ottoman history do not consider the Armenian case genocide.

Furthermore, H.R. 304 contravenes U.S. foreign policy. It is U.S. policy not to define the Armenian case in terms of a crime, but to encourage its foreign allies, Turkey and Armenia, to reach their own conclusion via the Turkey-Armenia Protocols, which the EU and Russia are also supporting. The protocols include the establishment of a historical commission to investigate the events of 1915. This investigation will necessarily probe the Armenian Revolt (1885-1919) during which 1.1 million Ottoman Muslims and Jews perished, and its consequences for Ottoman Armenians.

H.R. 306 is actually an allegation of genocide in the cloak of hyperbolic charges that Turkey is destroying its ancient and modern Christian heritage as a part of an "intentional destruction" of Turkey's Christian populations. The term "intentional destruction" is simply a rewording of Article 2 of the UN Convention which identifies the "intent to destroy" as a key element of the crime of genocide. Furthermore, the various claims of H.R.306 are largely invalidated by the report of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom and the 2010 progress report of the European Union, both of which commend freedom of religion in Turkey.

In a country that offers over 10,000 years of human history and even greater numbers of sacred sites, the task of restoring, protecting, and placing into public service this rich cultural heritage is expensive, time consuming, and delicate work, and rarely assisted by others — even by those who are so eager to complain about Turkey. Turkey has taken the following actions:

In 2005, Turkey and the Landmarks Foundation restored the Akhtamar Church in Van; Turkey and the Landmarks Foundation is restoring the Balyan Church in Istanbul; Turkey independently is restoring the Holy Savior Cathedral in Ani; in 2010, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Istanbul commenced services in the Sumela Monastery in Trabzon and thousands of worshippers attended; in 2010, the Armenian Church commenced services in the Akhtamar Church in Van.

People of Turkish heritage have a tradition of protecting and accepting refugees of religious persecution. Today, the Jewish population of Turkey is the second greatest in the former Ottoman lands, Israel having the highest.

We regrettably take special note that the frequency, gross inaccuracies and derogatory tone of resolutions such as H.R. 304 and H.R. 306 reflect an anti-Turkish and anti-Muslim prejudice and create a dangerous atmosphere of hatred directed at Americans of Turkish heritage. These resolutions deny people of Turkish and Muslim heritage fairness and justice, as they place the legislature, a politically motivated body, in the seat of an arbiter of ethnic disputes. Furthermore, these resolutions harm US interests in an increasingly complex, multi-polar region, by harming US-Turkish relations.

Please provide no quarter to these misleading resolutions, to ethnic feuds on Capitol Hill, and to bigotry and hatred cloaked as human rights resolutions.

Harun Ozturk

Burlington Township

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